An original and intriguing new addition to filmmaker Harmony Korine’s body of work, Mister Lonely stars Diego Luna as the confused and sensitive protagonist. A reticent young Mexican Michael Jackson impersonator living in Paris, he finds a kindred spirit when he meets a Marilyn Monroe (Samantha Morton).

Marilyn lives in an isolated commune in the highlands with a small group of fellow celebrity impersonators, as well as her husband and daughter, who are living as Charlie Chaplin and Shirley Temple.

Running parallel to Michael’s story, a group of nuns led by Father Umbrillo (Werner Herzog) test their purity and faith in god through extreme measures.

Korine’s interest seems to be in capturing the unrealistic and unconventional. He explores the lives of people who live outside the realm of the average, creating glimpses into the world’s oddness. These narratives are based in the real world, but are somehow unreal. Korine has said: ” Its almost like a subtle science fiction, it’s like the real world, but slightly tweaked, … it’s like maybe a slight manipulation…I never really had an interest in sticking to like, you know, the truth.” (interview by www.filmcatcher.com)

This film is very sucessful in terms of its cinematography, but it lets itself down when it comes to storytelling, only because it feels like there should be more; more character depth, more story. The stories are fanciful and fascinating, the concepts are ingenious, but Mister Lonely just leaves you wanting to know more.

The opening scene, shot in slow motion, shows Michael in full costume, riding a tiny motor bike, with a winged monkey trailing on a string behind him. This scene is visually awesome, but arguably the most memorable scene from the film, contains the gorgeous ethereal footage of a nun descending from the clouds, the wind buffeting her pale blue robes, while riding her bmx. Incongruous imagery, absurdly beautiful, abounds in Mister Lonely.

Korine has said he likes to create his films based on images, things he has either seen, or imagined. The surrealism in Mister Lonely feels a lot like he has taken his ideas straight from his dreams, and put these images onto celluloid. And, much like a dream, you wonder if there is any point trying to attribute meaning to the images running in front of your eyes, or if you should just appreciate the inherent beauty of these strange juxtapositions.

In any case, it is an attractive and frequently mesmerizing experience.

If for nothing else, see it for the nuns. 3/5.

L’Oreal Paris AFI Award for Best Film
The Black Balloon
The Jammed
The Square
Unfinished Sky

AFI Award for Best Direction
The Black Balloon. Elissa Down
The Jammed. Dee McLachlan
The Square. Nash Edgerton
Unfinished Sky. Peter Duncan

Macquarie AFI Award for Best Adapted Screenplay
All My Friends Are Leaving Brisbane. Stephen Vagg
Unfinished Sky. Peter Duncan

AFI Award for Best Cinematography
The Black Balloon. Denson Baker ACS
Death Defying Acts. Haris Zambarloukos BSC
The Tender Hook. Geoffrey Simpson ACS
Unfinished Sky. Robert Humphreys ACS

AFI Award for Best Editing
The Black Balloon
Black Water
The Jammed
Unfinished Sky

AFI Award for Best Sound
The Black Balloon. Ben Osmo & Paul Pirola
Hey Hey It’s Esther Blueburger. Liam Egan, Tony Murtagh, Phil Judd MPSE & Des Kenneally
The Tender Hook. Liam Egan, Tony Murtagh, Phil Judd MPSE & Gary Wilkins
Unfinished Sky. Andrew Plain, Annie Breslin & Will Ward

AFI Award for Best Original Music Score
The Black Balloon. Michael Yezerski
The Square. Franois Tetaz & Ben Lee
The Tender Hook. Chris Abrahams
Unfinished Sky. Antony Partos

AFI Award for Best Production Design
Children of the Silk Road. Steven Jones-Evans
Death Defying Acts. Gemma Jackson
The Tender Hook. Peter Baxter
Unfinished Sky. Laurie Faen

AFI Award for Best Lead Actor
Rhys Wakefield. The Black Balloon
Guy Pearce. Death Defying Acts
David Roberts. The Square
William McInnes. Unfinished Sky

AFI Award for Best Lead Actress
Noni Hazlehurst. Bitter & Twisted
Emma Lung. The Jammed
Veronica Sywak. The Jammed
Monic Hendrickx. Unfinished Sky

AFI Award for Best Documentary
Beyond Our Ken. Luke Walker
Not Quite Hollywood. Craig Griffin & Michael Lynch
The Oasis. Ian Darling
Rare Chicken Rescue. Vickie Gest

AFI Award for Best Editing in a Documentary
Not Quite Hollywood. Jamie Blanks, Sara Edwards & Mark Hartley
The Oasis. Sally Fryer
Rare Chicken Rescue. Scott Walton
The Siege. Stewart Young ASE

TELEVISION NOMINEES

AFI Award for Best Children’s Television Drama
Animalia. Ewan Burnett & Murray Pope. Network Ten
Blue Water High (Series 3). Noel Price & Dennis Kiely. ABC
Double Trouble. Rachel Clements & Terry Jennings. Nine Network - (releasing this next year in Feb)
H2O - Just Add Water (Series 2). Jonathan M. Shiff & Joanna Werner. Network Ten

AFI Award for Best Screenplay in Television
Dogstar (Episode 26) Philip Dalkin. Nine Network - already out, October 2008
East West 101 (Episode 2, Death at the Station) Kris Wyld. SBS
The Hollowmen (Episode 1, Fat Chance) Santo Cilauro, Tom Gleisner & Rob Sitch. ABC
Underbelly (Episode 2, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice) Peter Gawler. Nine Network

AFI Award for Best Guest or Supporting Actor in a Television Drama
Gary Files. Dogstar (Episode 26) Nine Network - already out, October 2008
Taffy Hany. East West 101 (Episode 1, The Enemy Within) SBS
Vince Colosimo. Underbelly (Episode 2, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice) Nine Network
Damian Walshe-Howling. Underbelly (Episode 7, Wise Monkeys) Nine Network

Not that long ago, you couldn’t get a standalone Blu-ray player any cheaper than a PS3 (which has it bundled within). So .. prices are coming down. Another 12 months and we might see standalone players around the $200 level .. bring it on!

Now, in our ‘crazy’ shot, Andrew doesn’t look entirely comfortable as he sorta stretches out. Sarah reckon’s I’m about to spring out of the page, ready to go toe to toe with Dexter. So that leaves our 2 naturals in the middle, Mara strikes out with purpose, resolute in our achievement and Sarah’s already rehearsing for later on in the night!

Just a reminder and update regarding our next Movie Club event….

The Film - The Diving Bell and Butterfly, directed by Julian Schnabel. A wonderful and prolific film, for those who haven’t seen it, it’s a must! Julian Schnabel, both an artist and filmaker, has written and directed the films Basquiat (1996), Before Night Falls (2000), and The Diving Bell and Butterfly, his latest.

The Diving Bell and Butterfly is an adaption of a french memoir by Jean Dominique Bauby and has earned Schnabel an award for Best Director at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival, the golden Globe for Best Director, The Independant Spirit Award for best director and a nomination for The
Academy award for best director…

Date- Tuesday October 7th
Time- 7pm
Venue- Everest Wine bar
85 Station Street
Fairfield

I’d love to see you all there, and hopefully a few new faces.. Drop a comment if you’d like to attend, so I have an idea of numbers…..

so I have been in the store again a lot more lately and it’s really great to discover new things about this business that I hadn’t really thought about before.

I love the way parents can double park outside whilst small children come in with money, get their disc and leave. The kids get a kick out of it (especially if it is picking up something they rented for themselves) and so do I! Kids so love engaging in the grown up world….. remember when it was a novelty to hand money over to a stranger? !

For more information about PARKing Day visit www.parkingday.org

The Leader wanted to do a story so we set up a mock park for an hour the other day outside the shop. It attracted a lot of attention and we are really looking forward to the big day next Friday. We are setting up

1. Outside APPLEBOX - Badminton players encouraged to come!
2. Outside the Community Centre on Station St

So come and drop in on one of our parks, say gidday!

It also coincides with the start date of our Home Delivery trial….. (I must be MAD!) But I guess it all ties in with greener practices and alternative transport.